May Angels Lead You In
by BeHiNdThEsHaDoWs45
Summary: DH SPOILERS. Harry in the forbidden forest. HPSS no slash.


MAJOR HALLOW SPOILERS

A different take on chapter-thirty four. This will not make much sense unless you've read the book. Quite obviously. I'm sorry if this saddens anyone. I need more writing therapy.

Jimmy Eat World owns the lyrics.

Major AU.

Its over, I can't believe it.

Anyway.

Harrys POV in normal font (a lot of his POV is directly out of the book. No copyright infringement intended)

**Snape POV in bo**l**d font. **

**May Angels Lead You In **

* * *

_There's no one in town I know _

_You gave us someplace to go _

He felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. How strange that in his dread of death, it pumped all the harder, valiantly keeping him alive. But it would have to stop, and soon. Its beats were numbered. How many would there be time for, as he rose and walked through the castle for the last time, into the grounds and into the forest?

**Snape closed his eyes as he felt the Potter boy leave the room. His chest heaving, he sat up onto his knees. He had anticipated this outcome, and had taken an anti-venom potion, for Dumbledore had told him to stay alive, no matter the circumstances. "You must retrieve his body," said the old man, tears in his eyes, after telling him that Harry must die, "you must not let them humiliate him." Snape didn't mind Potter thinking he was dead. It would further motivate the boy to save the wizarding world if he knew it was Snapes 'dying wish'. **

_I never said thank you for that_

_I thought I might get one more chance_

Terror washed over him as he lay on the floor, with that funeral drum pounding inside him. Would it hurt to die? All those times he had thought that it was about to happen and escaped, he had never really thought of the thing itself: his will to live had always been so much stronger than his fear of death. Yet it did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun Voldemort. It was over, he knew it, and all that was left was the thing itself: dying.

**Snape sat up from the floor. He had to beat Potter there, he realized, and more than half an hour had elapsed since the dark lords, 'in-an-hour-or-else' warning. He stuck his wand in his robe pocket, trying to staunch the bleeding in his neck with a robe sleeve, and stumbled out of the shrieking shack into the underground tunnel. Dumbledore had also given him the job of finishing off old Tom Riddle, if Potters friends couldn't manage it. Snape didn't think he would even give them the chance.**

_So what would you think of me now… _

_So lucky, so strong, so proud?_

Slowly, very slowly, he sat up, and as he did so he felt more alive and more aware of his own living body than ever before. Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart? It would all be gone…or at least, he would be gone from it. His breath came slow and deep, and his mouth and throat were completely dry, but so were his eyes. Like rain on a cold window, these thoughts pattered against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, which was that he must die. _I must die_. It must end.

He stood up. His heart was leaping against his ribs like a frantic bird. Perhaps it knew it had little time left, perhaps it was determined to fulfill a lifetimes' beats before the end. He did not look, back as he closed the office door. The castle was empty. He felt ghostly striding through it alone, as he had already died.

Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak over himself and descended through the floors, at last walking down the marble staircase into the entrance hall. Perhaps some tiny part of him hoped to be sensed, to be seen, to be stopped, but the Cloak was, as ever, impenetrable, perfect, and he reached the front doors easily.

Then Neville nearly walked into him. Harry explained to him about the necessity of killing the snake, and made his way towards the forbidden forest.

**Snape climbed out of the now immobilized Whomping Willow. He took a deep breath, air filling his lungs. He could finally be himself. Show what side he was on. He strode over the grounds with an air of pride, even though the pain in his neck was killing him. He earned several glares from students who battled death eaters, yet no one pursued him. He was invisible, lost in the crowd of the great war. And his dark mark burned. He knew it was time to go wait for Potter.**

_I never said thank you for that _

_Now I'll never have a chance_

"I'm about to die" Harry whispered to the golden snitch. It opened up, and he removed to the two halves of the resurrection stone.

His mother, his father, Sirius, and Remus Lupin all emerged, not at all dead-looking, but not quite alive.

"You've been so brave," he heard his mother say. His eyes brimmed with tears.

Sirius, his father, and Lupin all talked to him, told him it wouldn't hurt to die. And with the turn of a resurrection stone and tearful goodbyes, they were gone. But he would soon be joining them. All of a sudden, he stopped, one question on his mind.

_Where had Snape been in my ghost party?_ He thought bitterly.

"Treated me like shit all these years and ended up being good in the end, doesn't even show up for my impending death, though it was the gits one true wish?_" _Harry brooded to himself.

"Don't worry, Potter," he heard a voice from behind him, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Harry turned to face a quite alive Snape. This was incomprehinsible. He pulled the cloak off of himself, ready to face his former professor one last time.

**Snape stepped into the clearing, facing the young hero. Potter looked as though he was struggling with something akin to rage and disbelief, but then relaxed, and looked him dead in the eye.**

"**Goodbye, Professor. Thank you…for helping me." The tone the boy used sounded firm, but almost defeated.**

**Snape was almost stunned. Where were the words of hatred, of anger, of arrogance and carelessness. Snape remembered one of his final conversations with Dumbledore.**

"_**He is his father over again-"**_

"_**In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother's." **_

**And all of a sudden, Snape was as sad as he had been when he read Lily's letter in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The boy was walking to his death, ready to save, at seventeen, the whole wizarding world, which had chewed him up and spit him out too many times to count. And he was alright with it. Snape clenched his fist, angry at himself. Harry was not James. He was Lily.**

_And if you were with me tonight_

_I'd sing to you just one more time_

The words rolled off Harry's tongue easily. He had spent too much energy hating and being angry at everyone who had treated him unfairly. He didn't care. He was about to die for them, they would be safe, not confronted. He was dying on behalf of everyone who had died to protect him. Did he care how Snape survived? No. It was probably another plan. Plans, plans, plans. Lies. Snape seemed rendered speechless.

If he was just going to stand there, Harry wasn't going to waste his time. He had an evil wizard to defeat. He turned away.

"Potter," he heard Snape's voice, so different, so un-malicious.

A lump formed in Harry's throat as he turned towards the older wizard. "If you please, sir. It's Harry." He knew his eyes were shining with tears.

**Snape stared at Harry, who was on the edge of a breakdown. **

_**  
Why's the boy crying?**_

_**Well, he's about to walk to his death, but I suppose it isn't THAT big a deal. **_**Snapes **

**subconscious scolded him. **

"**Harry," he said, and knew there was no time for sarcasm or sneering, "your welcome."**

**The boy let out one sob, and closed his eyes, tears running down his cheeks.**

"**If you'll excuse me," he said, feigning politeness horribly, "I have to go die now."**

**But there was nothing funny about it. It was true, and terrible, and disgusting. **_**He is a child**_** Severus thought to himself. **

**And before he could stop himself, the former potions master strode forward, and embraced Harry Potter. The boy flinched with shock, but eventually returned the embrace, grasping the man tightly.**

"**You're the last thing I'm holding onto," he whispered into Snapes robes, sobbing uncontrollably, "literally." **

**Snape had a ghost of a smile upon his face as he rubbed the boys back. He didn't want to speak. He didn't want a sarcastic remark to spill from his lips, though he'd never do it intentionally. His mistreatment of the boy was habitual, and Severus was disgusted with himself.**

**Harry pulled back eventually, and looked at him, **_**one last time **_**thought Snape sadly, seeing Harry's eyes filled with misery was seeing Lily's eyes filled with misery. **

"**Thankyou, once again," said the boy tearfully, "you're the bravest man I think the world… has ever known."**

**Severus wasn't one for cheesy lines, in any circumstance, but this touched him. And he pulled the boy fiercely to him. "No," he said firmly, "you are. I'm so- so- sorry." He was surprised to find tears in his eyes. Harry left his embrace once again.**

"**No more delays, Professor. I must go."**

"**Then go, Potter," Snape retorted neutrally, "and my prayers are with you."**

**The boy nodded, and disappeared into the forest. **

_A song for a heart so big_

_God wouldn't let it live._

**Snape fell to his knees, tears coarsing down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Lily..." he sobbed, "so sorry..."**

_May angels lead you in_

_Hear you me my friend_

** Snape looked down at the ground, breathing heavily. He did not know how long he'd been there. How could Dumbledore have let a child succumb to this fate, this destiny? **

** All of a sudden, flashes of light and the sound of celebration rang through the forest. Severus knew what he had to do. **

** He stood, and began to move slyly towards the source of the noise. He knew the group was moving by how the sounds drifted from loud to quieter, to quieter... **

** He saw the group of them leaving the forest, Potter's limp body in Hagrids arms. The oaf was weeping copiously. He seized his chance and jumped behind the giant, who hid his body, probably ten-fold. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. And they saw him, but said nothing. **

** Narcissa crept over to him, and guessed his intentions well.**

** "The boy is alive," she whispered.**

** Severus Snape smiled.**

_On sleepless roads the sleepless go_

_May angels lead you in. _

* * *

I REALLY DIDN'T WANT SNAPE TO FUCKING DIE!! GOD!!! AGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

NO FINAL CONVERSATION?!!? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS SHIT?!?!

…sorry.

Just….

….review.


End file.
